"That's not what I asked."
He pulled me back into another kiss instead of answering. This one was even more desperate than the first. I felt the moment his resistance cracked completely, felt him surrender to what he'd been fighting since the day we met.
I could have taken him to bed right then. Could have stripped him out of that expensive suit and mapped every inch of his body with my hands and mouth. Could have fucked him against the window with the city spread out below us, made him come apart while looking at the empire I'd built.
But that would have been too fast. Too easy. I wanted him desperate for it. Wanted him to come back begging for more. Wanted him so thoroughly under my control that the idea of leaving became impossible.
So I kissed him until he was trembling. Until his hands were everywhere, trying to pull me closer. Until he was making small desperate sounds against my mouth that went straight to my cock.
Then I stopped.
"It's late," I said, even though it wasn't. Even though every instinct I had was screaming to finish what we'd started. "I should have Thomas take you home."
He stared at me like I'd spoken a foreign language. "What?"
"You need to think about this. About what you want. What you're willing to risk." I straightened his tie, which we'd thoroughly disheveled. "I won't take you to bed until you're certain. Until you've made the choice consciously instead of in the heat of the moment."
"I'm certain now."
"You're aroused now. That's different." I stepped back, putting necessary distance between us. "Go home, Emilio. Thinkabout what this means. What it costs. Then decide if you still want it."
"You're serious." Disbelief colored his voice. "You're actually sending me home."
"I'm giving you the choice that matters. Stay or go. Pursue this or walk away while you still can." I pulled out my phone and texted Thomas. "The car will take you anywhere you want to go. Home. A bar. Anywhere except here. Tonight you get distance and clarity. Tuesday, when you come to Inferno for our scheduled meeting, you'll tell me what you've decided."
"And if I decide to walk away?"
"Then you walk away. I won't stop you. Won't pressure you. You'll remain my attorney and we'll maintain professional boundaries." I smiled slightly. "But you won't walk away, Emilio. Because you felt what I felt in those kisses. You want this as much as I do."
The elevator chimed. Thomas had sent it up, waiting to take Emilio wherever he needed to go.
Emilio looked at the elevator. Looked at me. I could see him weighing his options. Trying to decide if staying and demanding I finish what we started was worth the loss of agency, or if leaving and maintaining control was the smarter choice.
He chose control.
"Tuesday," he said. "Inferno. Two PM."
"I'll be waiting."
He left without another word. I watched the elevator doors close on his confused, aroused expression and allowed myself a small smile.
Perfect.
I'd given him exactly enough to make him obsess. Enough to make him want more. But not so much that he felt forced or pressured. He'd spend the next three days thinking about those kisses. Wondering what would have happened if I'd taken him tobed. Building the anticipation until Tuesday's meeting became all he could think about.
And when he arrived on Tuesday, he'd be primed and ready and desperate for whatever came next.
I poured myself another scotch and stood at the window looking at the city below. Somewhere out there, Emilio was in the back of my car, touching his swollen lips and trying to process what had just happened.
I'd crossed a line tonight. Mixed professional and personal in ways that could destroy both of us if anyone found out. It was reckless and dangerous and exactly the kind of complication I usually avoided.
But watching Emilio fall apart in my arms had been worth every risk.
I wanted him. Not just as a useful attorney or a strategic asset. I wanted him in ways that had nothing to do with business and everything to do with the way he'd responded to my touch. The way he'd surrendered despite all his principles screaming at him to run.
It was going to be beautiful, breaking Emilio Rossi. Watching him compromise one ethical boundary at a time until he couldn't remember what his principles had been before me. Until the idea of leaving became impossible because I'd made myself essential to his existence.
I would own him. Completely. Mind, body, and soul.
